USS Arlington will be commissioned in Norfolk VA in autumn of 2012

In a victory for Virginia’s congressional delegation, the Navy has announced that the USS Arlington will be commissioned at the Norfolk Naval Base.

Following word last week that ports outside of Virginia were being considered for the commissioning, the delegation wrote a letter to Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus, saying that it would a “mistake” to commission the Arlington anywhere other than Commonwealth.

“We applaud the Navy’s responsiveness and decision to commission the USS Arlington in the Commonwealth of Virginia,” the delegation said in a statement today. “Commissioning the ship in Virginia is the appropriate way to honor the bravery and sacrifice of the thousands of local police officers, firefighters, Pentagon employees, emergency first responders and all who lost their lives on September 11, 2001.”